Anti-Gambling Pill Shows Promise

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ)— Can overcoming gambling addiction be as simple as popping a pill?

University of Chicago Psychiatry Professor Dr. John Grant says an all natural vitamin found at most health foods stores is showing promise.

Grant has studied the brain of addicts and found that when people become hooked on gambling.

“There are parts of the brain that are, for lack of a better word, hijacked. These parts of the brain involve the way that we make decisions, the way that we process risk and reward,” Grant told Sandra McNeil.

In particular, he said, “We have a natural reward center in the brain that gets very revved up. Once it gets hooked on something, it keeps kind of saying to us, if you will, keep doing it, keep doing it. It’s beyond what most people’s drive would be.”

Grant said that a natural vitamin called N-acetyl cysteine has been shown to quiet that part of the brain.

How many people will it help?

“We recently did a study sponsored by the National Institute of Health looking at that,” said Grant. “And we had earlier done some research on it. And it helps a majority of people.”